RL Fic Exchange: Dark Valentine
by Mooncat99
Summary: Valentine's Day on an island with the Huntzbergers - that can't be a pleasant holiday. AU-Version of episode 6-15 A Vineyard Valentine.
1. Late Night Goon

Title: **Dark Valentine**

Author: Mooncat

Rating: K+

Summary: Valentine's Day on an island with the Huntzbergers - that can't be a pleasant holiday. AU-Version of episode 6.15: A Vineyard Valentine.

Warnings: Angst, language, tense moments

Disclaimer: All stories, original characters and plots archived herein are property of their respective owners and authors. Gilmore Girls and its characters are property of Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hofflund/Polone in association with Warner Bros. Television. No copyright infringement intended.

Copyright: Sarah Diaz © 01.20.2010

Author's Note: This my response to the Valentine's Day Fic Exchange prompt from R.S. Lynn. Thanks to R.S. Lynn for the interesting prompt. Thanks to Julie for organizing yet another fic exchange and a very big thank you to my beta for getting this baby on the road.

_**Dark Valentine**_

**1. Late Night Goon**

"Did you hear that?"

"Probably just Stan. Go back to sleep, Ace," Logan gave a muffled reply, not even lifting his head.

"No raccoon can make that much noise!" Rory protested. She heard it again − a strange, scratching, squeaky sound. "Besides, it sounds as if it's coming from inside the house," she whispered nervously. "What if it's a burglar?"

Turning his head, Logan opened one eye. "At the Vineyard? Dream on. No burglar's this insane." Seeing that his sarcasm had no calming effect whatsoever, he pulled her into his arms with a sigh. "I told you, this house's a grandma. It's squeaky."

"This is the third time we're here. I've never heard anything like this," Rory argued but did relax somewhat though. It did help that she hadn't heard anything else for the moment.

"There's always something new, especially this time of year," Logan replied unworriedly, already almost asleep again. Sure enough, moments later his deep breathing filled the quiet room.

Rolling her eyes, Rory listened to the house, not ready yet to go to sleep herself, making a mental note to never rely on her boyfriend should there ever be a real burglar. The house stayed quiet but, nonetheless, Rory was unable to fall asleep. Not that she wasn't tired. She and Logan had enjoyed every second of being here, finally alone and having some extended, uninterrupted time with each other. Between her studies and the paper and Logan's own classes and many business trips Mitchum dragged him to, they hardly saw each other, let alone had some quality time together. All the more reasons she had let Logan talk her into taking the time for this extended Valentine weekend.

So far, it had been breath-taking. And she wasn't thinking about the beautiful scenery of the island here. Apart from the early dinner Logan had prepared and set for them out on the deck so they could watch the sunset, they honestly hadn't seen much of anything yet. Luckily, she already knew the place well enough to be perfectly happy to not do the island tour. A short walk at the shore, eating royally and otherwise doing what they had done all afternoon and evening before collapsing into their bed out of exhaustion as plan for the weekend was just fine with her.

Huh, eating, she thought, suddenly craving for a midnight snack. After all the way they were going at it, she sure could use the extra calories, she thought with a contented grin. Careful as to not wake Logan, she slipped out of his arms. Shivering instantly in the cold air, she grabbed Logan's sweatshirt and pulled it on. Tiptoeing out of the room, she headed straight for the kitchen, deciding on not taking the detour by the den to turn on the lights to the hallway and living room.

Big mistake.

She had barely entered the living room area when she bumped into a big figure. Her heart racing, she shrieked, trying to backpedal but already, an iron grip kept her wrist captured and she felt herself pulled forward. She was just about to scream for Logan when light flooded the room and she found herself face to face with none other than Logan's dad.

A very displeased Mitchum Huntzberger.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, his cold eyes narrowed on her.

Swallowing, she nervously licked her lips, her heart still skipping a beat here and there. Jeez. "Uh, Logan?" she stammered, thinking it was quite obvious why she would be here and not really ready yet to form coherent sentences.

Instead of calming down, that response only seemed to enrage Logan's dad more, his hold on her tightening. "My son is here?"

"Of course. It's Valentine's weekend," she pointed out, irritation slowly replacing the shock this late run-in had given her. She had known that she wasn't a favorite of Mitchum Huntzberger or any of the elder Huntzbergers, and obviously, her being here came as a surprise, still, no need to treat her as if she was a burglar or something. Whether he liked it or not, she was Logan's girlfriend for almost a year now and it was Valentine's weekend, damn it.

He said nothing in return. The anger almost visibly emanating from him though spoke of what he thought about his son actually spending time at the Vineyard during Valentine's with his girlfriend. Not that she was surprised. It's been a long time since she had foolishly looked up to this man, blinded by his achievements. In the meantime, she had learned a thing or two about him, some through her own, highly unpleasant encounters with him but way more so through his son. Not just by his occasional comments and rants about the living incarnation of Darth Sidious but also by simply watching her boyfriend in certain situations like holidays or anniversaries and by seeing his reactions and expectations at any situation. It hadn't taken her long to comprehend that his parents had done a real thorough job at screwing up Logan and Mitchum Huntzberger was certainly the one who could take most credit for this.

No, she didn't like this man at all, let alone respected him. Actually, she was quite sure she'd come to hate him for what he'd done to Logan - or neglected to do.

He was still staring at her, looking her up and down disapprovingly, but then suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed completely, making her skin scrawl in trepidation. This was an ability his son had inherited, the power to dominate any place he went to. But while it was part of the attraction with Logan, it was only intimidating with Mitchum. And what she saw in the ice-cold eyes and even more what she felt in the crackling air around them was downright frightening, making her very conscious of the little she was wearing.

But no, she had to be imagining this, surely Mitchum wasn't going to sink _that_ low. Still, the faster she got away from him, the better. "Let go of me," she demanded patiently.

His grip only tightened though, starting to bruise. And his gaze definitely wasn't focused on her face anymore. Her discomfort growing, she nervously yanked at the tight hold capturing her with no success. Instead, she felt herself being cornered against the wall, causing her heart to beat furiously once again.

"Mr. Huntzberger, let go," she repeated, more urgent now.

Unfortunately, her struggle only seemed to incense him, stepping closer, way into her personal space. "I see why my son is so hung up on you," he murmured and she felt his hot breath over her face, her neck.

With it, she also smelled the lingering taste of alcohol on his breath. Great. Horny and drunk.

A shudder ran through her but she reined in the beginnings of her panic, telling herself to stay still and calm. "Let go or I'll call Logan. I don't think he'll appreciate finding his father cornering his girlfriend."

Her threat seemed to cut through whatever state of mind he was in as he stopped. He didn't pull away or let go of her either. Actually, for a moment, it almost looked to her as if he was considering the options and which should prevail. Her eyes narrowed. Enough was enough. "Take one more step forward and your balls will not only be acquainted with my knee… I guarantee you, first I'll scream that the whole island will hear and next I'll be on the phone, calling my grandparents, the newspapers and, if necessary, the police," she told him flatly, meaning each and every word she said. "I doubt very much that you want any of those options so just step back and let go of me right this instance and I will write this off on you being drunk and I will not mention this incident to anyone."

She wasn't really worried that he would force her to anything and that most of this − whatever it was − was indeed due to him having had a few shots too many. Nonetheless, he wasn't easing up now, she didn't care a fuck who he was. She was not going to accept such a scandalous behavior toward her.

To her immense relief, his gaze finally cleared, the merciless, calculating look returning to his eyes. At last, his fingers loosened around her wrist and he stepped back. Not in the slightest mood to be one second longer in the asshole's presence, she gave him a condemning glare before slipping away to head straight back to their room, firmly shutting the door behind her. After a moment's hesitation, she locked the door as well.

Only then did she allow herself to sag against the old wooden door, letting out a deep sigh of relief. Her gaze fell on Logan, still sleeping peacefully, oblivious to what had just happened. It didn't surprise her, apart from her shriek in the beginning, neither she nor his father had ever raised their voices.

Good.

As angry as she was with Mitchum for the daring and blatant sexual pass at her, his son's girlfriend, and as much as she wanted to use it in order to show the world this man's true color, she knew she wouldn't, having meant exactly what she had already promised Mitchum about her never mentioning this to anyone. She could never bring herself to do that. To talk about such a thing would probably hardly affect the great Mitchum Huntzberger's image, especially as nothing had really happened. That moment there only had the possibility of something much uglier and nasty but it definitely would hurt Logan a great deal.

Extremely unhappy, she stared at the sleeping man she loved. Loved so much so that lately, she caught herself thinking more and more of him as _the one_.

Logan always ranted about his father, never hesitated to declare with full conviction that he could care less about what his father thought about him, did to him. That he was indifferent to his parents; he didn't need either his parents' love or their acceptance. But she knew better. She could very well hear the bitterness whenever he told her about the latest expectation dumped on him. She saw how he would flinch a bit whenever Mitchum said something cruel and nasty over the phone. She felt his deep sadness when he told her about yet another memory of his childhood that was teeming with shameful deprivation of love as well as the slightest envy when he grew aware of how very different it could be whenever he watched her interacting with her family or heard her anecdotes of her truly happy childhood.

Plus, he was quite protective of her, especially in regards with his family. He had been livid after the disastrous dinner at the Huntzberger's where they had told to her face that she wasn't good enough for Logan. She had been barely able to stop him from doing something real drastic when he had learned about his father's little talk with her when she finished the internship with Mitchum. And when she had told him about his parents' impolite behavior at the fundraiser she had organized for the DAR, he hadn't been happy either and again had to be convinced to let it be. If he learned of this newest unpleasant incident...

No, it was for the best he never knew about it. Unthinkable what he'd do because of it and, this time, she was sure there was nothing she could say or do to stop him from taking any actions against Mitchum that would lead to undoubtedly very ugly consequences.

As much as she despised his father, even more so after tonight, she still didn't want to be responsible for any rift between Logan and Mitchum. So for him, she would never breathe a word about what had just happened and hope she never again had to be alone with Mitchum Huntzberger in a room.

* * *

TBC

_(Author's Note: Alas, yet a new story from me. This is the first of four parts and I hope that you like it, even if it is a lot darker than my usual stories. But that was the prompt that you'll find at the end of the story and I honestly enjoyed exploring a darker side of GG. I do have a great love for crime, thriller and drama, frankly said, something I do miss sometimes, writing GG fanfiction. So this weekend has only just begun and I hope you stay tuned for the rest. And R.S. Lynn, I really hope yo__u like your story! I swear, I tried very, very hard to avoid any fluff.)_


	2. Breakfast with the Sharks

**2. Breakfast with the Sharks **

Sunlight warmed her cheek but it was rather the hand that run tenderly over her back that woke her up the next morning. It hadn't been easy to fall asleep, her mind replaying last night's scene over and over again, but eventually, exhaustion had claimed her and dragged her into a restless sleep with disturbing dreams. Opening her eyes, she checked the time. Huh. Almost nine in the morning. A lot later than she had anticipated. Rolling onto her back, she saw Logan sitting beside her, one leg tucked under, the other dangling over the edge of the king-sized bed.

It wasn't the fact that he was fully clothed as much as the tenseness in his face and irritation in his eyes that told her that he was well aware of the new arrival. Seeing her attention on him, he sighed, mustering an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Ace."

For a moment, she debated whether to let him know that she already knew perfectly what he was talking about or play dumb. Dumb it was. "Hmm?"

Kissing her temple, he sighed again. "We're not alone anymore. My parents showed up sometime last night."

"Oh." Involuntarily, she drew the cover higher. Shira was here, too? Great. Wait… and the rotten bastard still had done what he had done? _Jerk. _Growing aware of Logan's eyes on her, she hurriedly pushed that thought away and slapped his thigh. "Told you there was someone."

"And I solemnly swear that next time, I will listen to you and go check out anything you want with no regard to my own life," he replied with a short laugh. "But for now, we're expected to have breakfast with them."

Her heart sank. Breakfast with them? Sitting at the same table with _him_?

"I know, I know," Logan sighed once more, obviously having no trouble reading her reluctance at that prospect. "And I'm really sorry. They weren't supposed to come here, and on Valentine's! I have no idea what had gotten into them. The house is always empty around this time, so I haven't bothered to warn the family that we'll be here this weekend. Obviously, I should have." He shook his head, glaring at the door, before looking back at her. "And if you want to, we can pack up our things and leave afterwards but there's no getting out of breakfast. I talked to them though, made them promise to behave so you don't have to be afraid that the sharks will tear you again like last time."

Needless to say, she would have instinctively said yes and begged him to leave as soon as possible. Too bad that that would be pretty obvious. Besides, that would feel like running and ever since the DAR fundraiser party, she had sworn to herself that she would never again run from Mitchum fucking Huntzberger, let alone be intimidated by him. So it was her turn to sigh. "If you're willing to stay, that's okay. I can take it."

She hoped. Damn, she had to. She deeply loved Logan. Very much so. And that would not change anytime soon and nobody could change that, not even his stupid family. Not to mention that if her heart was right with its whispers about him being the one, she had to find a way to deal with the Huntzbergers. Face Mitchum. Assholes or not, if she ever had children with Logan, she wanted them to have both sets of grandparents. She knew only too well how it felt to be hated by one set of grandparents for being who she was or rather for who her mother was. She was not allowing the same fate happen to her own children. Not if she could help it. And she could, right now, right here, by going out there and be a perfect lady her grandparents would be proud of and show those high and mighty _nouveau riche_ from what wood she was carved out. She was a Gilmore, damn it, with ancestors who had come over in the Mayflower and with well-documented bloodlines that could be traced to those who aided in achieving the independence of the United States, a true daughter of the American Revolution, for those who cared. So she had no reason whatsoever to be ashamed of anything but she should hold her head high and be respected by the likes of the Huntzbergers.

Logan's eyes narrowed a bit as if he read some of her thoughts, but he still looked skeptical. "You sure?"

He bet she was! Nodding, she threw back the covers. "How much time do I have?"

He got off the bed, looking mighty sheepishly all of a sudden. "Uh… breakfast is being served right now?"

"What? Logan!" she screeched and went into action, dashing over to their bathroom.

He spread his fingers. "You looked like you needed the sleep so I let you sleep in… and I kind of forgot the time."

Checking herself in the mirror, she sighed. Without taking a shower, there was hardly anything she could do about her tousled bed hair, sleepy eyes and, especially, the reek of sex. Ugh. In record time, she had brushed her teeth and then hurriedly washed herself with a washcloth that was disgustingly cold. Whirling past Logan, she went for her bag, searching for any respectable clothes. Naturally, nothing satisfied her. She had packed for a weekend with her boyfriend, not expecting to leave the house much and, surely, not anticipating his parents to be here.

"Ace, relax," Logan said, coming up behind her to take the shirt she had been looking at critically out of her hands. "You are beautiful and whatever you wear will be perfectly fine. They know we're here to relax and not for some fancy cocktail party. And they know that we sure hadn't expected any company. I swear, they are here also to relax and not to be stylish or be impressive. So just put on whatever you like."

"Easy for you to say. They're not your boyfriend's parents who hate you already anyway," she muttered under her breath but did grab the next t-shirt and her jeans to slip into. After finishing, she glared at him. "You better have coffee ready for me out there."

With a smirk, he opened the door and bowed. "A whole pot only for you."

* * *

"What a lovely surprise to run into you kids. But really, Logan, you should have told us that you and Rory would be here. Otherwise, I would never have dreamed of talking Mitchum into spending the weekend here on the island," Shira chastised Logan, taking a tiny bit of the croissant, her false smile steadily in place.

"I didn't think it necessary, Mom," Logan sighed. "It never even occurred to me that I'll find you and Dad here, this weekend. I gave only Honor a head's up, in case she and Josh wanted to come out here. Next time, I'll tell you."

"Not that your neglect is any surprise, but I'd like to know what you're doing here at all. I think I remember that I have specifically sent you to London for this weekend," Mitchum spoke up, the first time he said anything in the fifteen long minutes since they had all sat down for breakfast.

Feeling Logan tensing beside her, Rory saw him shooting a dark, angry look at his father. "And I told you the trip has to wait until after Valentine's."

Mitchum's eyes hardened. "I fail to see where you have any say so in such matters. You go when and where I tell you to. In the real, hardworking world there are no such things as Valentine's and you better get used to that. In six months time you'll be working with those people. It is time that you get your head around that and prepare yourself properly. So I expect you in London by tomorrow evening the latest."

Seeing her boyfriend ready to explode, Rory quickly grabbed his hand under the table, squeezing it. Taking a deep breath, she saw him relax somewhat, much to her relief. "Had you bothered to hear me out you'd know that I can't go to London because I have a presentation Monday afternoon and a Tuesday morning test that will be about twenty-five percent of my grade. So either I go like you ordered me and probably flunk out on two of my classes, risking my graduation, or I'll stay and actually do what I'm actually supposed to do which is go to classes."

Points for Logan, Rory thought gleefully as Mitchum's only response to that was a glowering glare.

"You two, always straight to business," Shira interrupted the tense moment, turning to Rory. "Isn't that terrible, my dear?"

"Yes indeed," Rory agreed, showing Shira her best socialite smile that was as fake as hers. "How did you manage to pry your husband away for a whole weekend?" she asked, truly curious.

Shira's smile chilled just a notch. "I'm sure it was the same way you convinced my son to take you here this weekend. Isn't it nice to have a man at your beck and call who owns several estates, making it almost impossible to choose where to go? As for Mitchum, I thought it would do him good to be away from all the stress for a couple of days," she replied, for a moment a nasty look flickering over her face that was gone as soon as it had come. "And Emily and Richard are well?"

Feeling her blood boil at this blunt hint that she was only being interested in Logan's money and insinuation that she could talk him into spending his money on her, Rory was ready to make her mom proud and make a really rude comment. This time it was Logan who squeezed her hand, calming her somewhat. Okay. Okay. No Lorelai channeling. But she would be damned if she didn't give Shira a little taste of Emily. Probably would work more effectively anyway. With a cool smile she draped the napkin over her lap, took a sip on her third cup of coffee and only then bothered to answer Shira whose smile had come slightly strained in the meantime. "Why yes, thank you for asking. Grandpa whisked Grandma away for the entire week, to Paris and London. They spent their wedding night in Paris and ever since then, he always takes her there for Valentine's, same hotel, same room. Forty years and he's still such a romantic, never letting anything come in the way of their tradition. So sweet, isn't it?" she asked, noticing with satisfaction as Shira shot her own husband a baleful glare and Mitchum just avoiding that look at all costs. Taking another sip, she let her words sink a little deeper while she grabbed herself a bagel and gingerly sliced it. "From Paris they go to London, checking up on the family properties, visiting relatives and friends. Ever since Gran died, Grandpa visits London several times a year. People keep telling him to sell at least some of the properties, but he refuses to. I kind of get it, who'd want to sell property that has been in the family for hundreds of years? Besides, it feels good to know that your roots in the old country are still there, tying you to such an impressive history, don't you think so too? Oh..." She stopped, flashing them an innocent look from under her eyelashes as if she remembered only now that they hardly knew of such a feeling.

"Yes, I'm sure," Shira agreed between her teeth.

Not that she was finished yet. "For my part, I can't wait to see the Gilmore estate. Grandpa suggested that Logan and I must go visit it for spring break as well as meet some of the family. Only the most immediate members, of course. Spring is the ideal time, right in-between their social engagements. Though, I think Grandma mentioned one event we'd be right in time to attend, something like a royal spring ball or something, wasn't it, Logan?"

Beside her, Logan rumbled with silent laughter but he managed to nod seriously. "Yes, something like that. Royal something for sure."

"Yes, exactly. We're inclined to take them up on the offer but I'm not sure yet if Logan can make it." She glanced at Mitchum, not bothering to mask her irritation with that man this time. "With all the sudden and many business trips, it had been quite difficult to plan anything ahead."

Shira who had lost more and more color since hearing the word 'royal' and whose jaw had definitely dropped ever since then, sat up eagerly. "Don't be ridiculous, of course, Logan can go with you. What a lovely idea... for Richard and Emily to extend such a wonderful invitation. Mitchum would never dream of denying you two a little vacation after all the hard work at Yale and at the group, right, Darling?"

"That would be wonderful," Rory added, her eyes meeting Mitchum's ice-cold eyes, glaring quite furiously at him. Silently, she challenged him to deny them this promise, having no idea where her sudden boldness had come from but she warmly welcomed it.

The invitation was real. And while Logan and she never had had any intentions of going to that party, they had discussed going to London and the family estate. Like Shira had said, with all the schoolwork and the paper, the business trips Mitchum dragged Logan to and also the preparation for Honor's wedding in a few weeks, going away for Spring break sounded like a great idea. But Logan hadn't been too enthusiastic about his chances of getting away from Mitchum and just having witnessed their brief conversation, Rory could see why he had been so hesitant to make any promises. Now though... She hadn't planned on bringing any of this up, but while being on a roll, she had suddenly seen this way to ensure Logan the free time with his parents' blessing and had gone for it, even if it meant that they now probably had to attend that stupid ball. She couldn't care less if she was distantly related to the Royal Family that should give her the theoretical right to participate on some very exclusive event, but people like Shira cared a great deal about such things and hey, if that got her an undisturbed week with her boyfriend, while also and most importantly, establishing once more that there was no need for her to go gold-digging even if she were such a person, why not use it?

Mitchum didn't look happy but much to her elation, he did make a concession after all. "I guess it can be arranged." Then though, her triumph faded some when he continued, staring right back at her, some of that snotty arrogance back in full force. "I planned on sending him to London for the break anyway, so his taking some time off to head for the country should be no problem."

Taking time _off_?

Before she could say anything to protest though, it was Shira who frowned at him. "Really, Mitchum, sometimes you are impossible. Of course Logan can't attend such a prestigious event between business meetings. I am sure you can do without him for a week."

His eyes slanted over to his wife and his jaw jumped. "We'll see," he said tersely, putting an effective end to their conversation.

Having finished spreading shmear on her bagel, Rory leaned back in her chair and bit into it with quite some gleeful pleasure. He may not want to talk about it any more but she trusted Shira to nag him with this several times per day until he would finally give his consent. Logan's amused smile as they exchanged a brief look confirmed her suspicion.

"We miss you dearly at the DAR, Rory. It's been ages since you've attended a meeting. The fundraiser party for the Everglades is coming up. We could really use your help. You did manage to raise an amazing amount of donations for our troops and we hate not having you this time to help again. What do you think?" Shira took the hint, changing the topic.

Shit.

Suspecting where this was heading to, she quickly thought of the best way to get out of this without losing any of the leverage she had just gained.

"Mom, Rory has the school paper to run and she still needs to keep up with her really busy school schedule. Plus there are all the wedding stuff Honor keeps dropping on us. Ace is good, but even she can't do everything all at once," Logan answered for her, a slight warning in his voice.

"I'm afraid that's true," Rory immediately picked up from there. "I planned on going to the monthly meeting though, of course. And I already reserved my seat at my family's table. Wouldn't miss that fundraiser in the world."

Not that she had had much choice in the matter. Just like every year, her grandparents had been frantic to fill up their table and because such events were often on a Friday night, sometimes her presence was requested. Miraculously, she had managed to keep Logan out of it, not that he was out of the woods completely. She was pretty sure that they were still saving a seat for him. In the worst case scenario, a jacket would have to hold up for him again, she thought, amused.

"Oh, but you and Logan absolutely have to come sit at our table, my dear."

Her eyes widening, Rory looked at Logan, having no idea how to answer that. Now that was a problem she hadn't anticipated. Who would have thought that a little mention of blue blood would turn her from persona non grata to 'my dear' so fast?

"Actually, I'm not sure I can even make it to the party," Logan though answered calmly, without blinking. "Even if I do, Richard and Emily have been first to offer us their table. We can sit with you next time."

Neither Shira nor Mitchum looked too pleased at that answer. Not wanting to be caught in another tense discussion, Rory was the one to change the topic this time. "I am so excited about Honor's wedding. It truly looks as if her wedding is going to be the event of the year."

And she really was. While she could do very well without a big, fancy wedding like this one was going to be, Logan's sister was so over the moon about it; she kind of got all of them warped into the elated craziness. Honor had invited her along to most of her planning events and she had made an effort to go to as many of them as possible. Not just because she really liked Honor and wanted to get to know better the only member of the whole Huntzberger clan Logan truly loved, but because no matter how big and grand Shira was making this wedding, in the end, Honor was a young woman crazy in love with her fiancé and she could not wait to marry him. After her mother's two disastrous wedding attempts, especially the planning for the wedding with Luke, Rory was really happy for the opportunity to help Honor in planning her wedding that was definitely going to happen and a wedding that would truly be beautiful simply because Josh and Honor really loved each other and wanted this to happen.

Her face immediately lightening up, Shira nodded. "Oh yes, I am certain Honor will have a wedding people will remember with awe for a long time to come. It is pure chaos though. I'm glad when it will be finally over and some normalcy will return into our lives. That is, until the next wedding comes around, right, Honey?" She winked at Logan, causing him to choke slightly on the piece of grapefruit he had in his mouth. Seemingly oblivious to that, his mother continued. "I must say I do regret though that we decided so hastily on the location. Being here reminds me of how beautiful this place is, especially in summertime. I can't help but wish we had waited for summer to have the wedding here, after all." She laughed and fondly said, "I remember how Honor and Logan used to play wedding day at that beautiful bay a bit up north. You two always came back, insisting on having your real wedding here, one day. A lovely idea even today. But maybe, we still can have that. Don't you think weddings here would be charming, Rory dear?"

Logan was still busy sputtering on his grapefruit and Rory too felt her last bite of bagel sitting heavily in her throat, but she managed to swallow it eventually. "Yes, yes, I'm sure it would be beautiful." She hesitated, not sure if there was anything she could say that wasn't going to make things worse. Logan and her were used to having Richard and Emily constantly dropping hints about a wedding, but Shira? Boy oh boy, if she had known that all she had to do to get on their good side was to declare herself a member of the extended Royal Family, she would have let this slip ages ago. Perhaps. To have one party set on having them married by the end of Yale was bad enough. "It would have to be a small wedding though, otherwise, it would be a logistic nightmare to have all those people come here and arrange comfortable accommodations for everyone."

She had no doubt that should she and Logan ever make it to the altar, both their families would insist on some really big, big wedding and she hoped her comment was going to stop Shira from already planning their Vineyard wedding. Though to be honest, a Vineyard wedding would truly be beautiful, something she could very well see.

"True, true," Shira agreed with a small frown and Rory could practically see her wheels turning.

"Yeah well, as nice as this is, Rory and I have some plans for today and we should get going," Logan quickly interrupted, with a nervous, almost apprehensive glance at his scheming mother, pushing his chair back to stand up.

Emptying her last cup of coffee, Rory nodded. "Yeah, we should. Shira, Mitchum, thank you for breakfast."

"Oh sure. Have a nice day you two. And Logan, try to keep out of trouble for once," Shira said with a warning look towards her son that had Rory tensing, once again having a nasty comment on the tip of her tongue she could only barely hold back.

Unbelievable! Couldn't they even once be nice and not constantly criticize or admonish their own son?

She was the first to admit that Logan had his faults, hardly being perfect. And of course she was also aware that he had quite a past. Still, weren't parents also supposed to encourage and praise their child at least sometimes? Couldn't they see how much Logan had matured this past year, making an effort in both school and the paper?

Logan though just rolled his eyes, apparently not thinking twice about this last comment. "I'll do my best," he replied dryly, taking Rory's hand to lead them back to their room.

And that was the worst of it all, that Logan didn't expect anything else from them, so used to it that it didn't even hurt him anymore. Most of the time at least.

"You okay?"

Looking up, she found Logan's eyes searching hers questioningly.

"Yeah," she reassured him. Knowing he wouldn't like her train of thought at all, she forced her gloomy thoughts away and mustered an amused smile. "So, little Logie-boy loved to play bride and groom, huh?"

Smirking, he held up his free hand. "Now wait a minute. I most certainly deny having any pleasure in Honor beating and blackmailing me into silly girly games. But if you're four years old and your sister who was three years older and a head taller, threatened to tear apart your GI Joe if you do not play along, what choice does a poor little guy have then, I ask you?"

Laughing, she nodded. "Uh-huh. I think I know what I'll talk about next time I meet Honor, see what she has to say about it."

He threw her a dark look that only resulted in her making a mental note to really ask Honor about these games. "So… and what do these many plans we have for today entail?" she curiously wanted to know.

Scowling, Logan shrugged. "My only plan was to stay in and keep you naked and satisfied but somehow, I don't see this working well with my parents all over the place. So I'm open for any suggestions. I'll just head to the gym for an hour, get rid of at least some of the sexual frustration I'm feeling right now. You could..."

"Excellent idea. I'll come with you," Rory was quick to decide. It was one thing to put up being with Mitchum and Shira in the confines of their vacation home with Logan there but to be all alone with them? No way in hell. Not after what had happened last night. She strongly suspected Shira had had a lot more in her cup of tea than just tea so chances were good she'd soon be taking a nap and that would leave her alone with Mitchum again... No, definitely not.

"To the gym?" Logan asked skeptically, giving her a disbelieving frown.

She had to admit, he had reason to be dubious. "Yes, why not? You're not the only one suffering from sexual frustration, you know? I'm not happy either to have to change those excellent plans you had for us."

"Uh-huh." Didn't look like Logan bought it, but he shrugged in the end. "By all means, then let's go to the gym. Do you have any sweats with you or do you need to borrow some of mine?" Then he grinned. "'cause that's what you wear in those places, you know? With a nice pair of sneakers, preferably ones that have never seen the outside. And you'll need to bring Lysol wipes to clean the sweat off the machines. And you should fix your hair in a ponytail. Wouldn't want all that hair to get in the way or you might fall onto the precious machines. They don't like that much. And no jokes about others training there. Or about the food and drinks they sell there. And under no circumstances make fun of the equipment, the gym in general or the people who frequent such establishments."

"Ass," was her only answer to his lecture and his laughter followed her into the bathroom where she went to get herself ready to go to the gym.

_Ugh._

Another good reason to hate one Mitchum Huntzberger.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Two down, two to go. Hope you had fun reading this one. I sure had writing it. Enjoy!)_


	3. Exercise

**3. Exercise**

"So, that's what you call _workout_?" Logan asked with a chuckle upon spotting his girlfriend sitting on a bench with a guy behind her, massaging her neck and shoulders. He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know they had masseurs on staff."

"They don't. Jerry here works for the laundry service. Totally missed his calling." Closing her eyes in appreciation as Jerry hit an apparently especially tense spot; she let out a sigh of pure appreciation. A sound that could drive men crazy as Logan knew only too well and it looked as if Jerry was no exception. Giving him a dirty back-off glare, he stepped forward, way into Rory's personal space. Opening her eyes, she glanced up at him. With a wide smile forming on her face, she turned her head back to gaze at Jerry. "Those hands are magic, Jerry. Thank you so much."

Easing back, Jerry shrugged. "No problem, Rory. It was fun."

Logan, with narrowed eyes, watched him leave. For a moment he wanted to ask how she had gotten the laundry guy to give her a massage but let it slide in the end. A man had to be dead or gay to not drop everything if a beautiful girl like Rory asked him to give her a massage.

"You're cute when you're jealous."

He took his eyes off Jerry's retreating back. "How many times do I have to tell you that guys aren't cute, Ace? I guess I don't have to ask if you are having a good time."

"For your information, while you were off doing unspeakable things, I really worked this gym. First, I stopped by that thing where you have to push this weight down. I couldn't get the thing to move an inch though."

"You can change the weight," Logan supplied with a smile, sitting down beside her. This ought to be entertaining.

"Thank you, I was capable of reading the instructions quite well… but that would have made me look like a wuss and a Gilmore girl can't look like that," she told him. "So, I went in search for one of those monsters where my chances of actually being able to lift something seemed good which led me to that ugly seat where you push the things sideways with your legs. I totally aced that one."

"But?" he asked knowingly.

"But there was this stegosaurus who kept pacing by, throwing me some really scary impatient looks and then muttering to himself, so for the sake of my well-being, I decided wisely to move on to the next equipment."

"Good decision," Logan agreed, knowing those types. "What was next?"

"The treadmill. But that got boring real fast so I moved on again. I passed a group of people all lying on their backs on floor mats and breathing strangely and the instructor invited me to join them. It looked comfortable enough, but boy, was I wrong! Ten minutes and I was sweating worse than the stegosaurus. I left them, faking an urgent call, and staggered over to the refreshments bar where I helped myself to cucumber water and a hard boiled egg without the yolk." She paused, a tiny frown appearing between her eyes. "What's with that anyway? The water tastes the same, with or without cucumber and it's simply a crime to eat an egg without the yolk… it's what makes the egg and it always looks so funny, that yellow blotch in the middle of this sea of protein."

"Shh, Ace, I told you, no criticizing!" Logan laughed, looking around. Rory threw up her arms in silent exasperation. Something red catching his attention, he took her hands and turned them over, inspecting them. "And where are these from?" he wanted to know, caressing the red, tender knuckles.

"Oh, there's this punching bag I had a little fun with. I really enjoyed myself… spent the rest of the time there before I headed off to the showers." Rory didn't seem to find anything strange in her words but Logan sure had to fight the urge to drop his jaw. His Ace went up against a punching bag? And had _liked_ it? "You know, if you're ever considering getting one for our apartment, I wouldn't mind. I think I see now why Paris and Doyle are so into Krav Maga. It's kind of liberating beating up things."

"You should have taped your knuckles like an athlete or wore gloves," he chided, letting go of her hands. "We'll put some ice and some salve on your knuckles when we get home… that should help."

But she shrugged, not caring. "Nah, it's nothing, I didn't even notice it until now. Are you done here?"

"Yeah, just need to shower still," he answered. "You okay waiting a bit more?"

Her eyes sparkled. "Sure, go ahead. I'll see if Jerry has some more time."

"Ace."

"What? I earned it, I've worked out a lot here," she pointed out, pouting.

Shaking his head, he got up to head for the showers, knowing it wasn't worth arguing this point with her. And sure enough, there she was already calling out for Jerry.

Oh well, he'd just hurry with his shower.

* * *

It wasn't the thought of Jerry giving his girlfriend a massage though that bothered him while he showered or when they were in his car on the way back to the house. He couldn't say what it was exactly that rubbed him the wrong way, but there definitely was something. It had something to do with Rory beating the hell out of a punching bag, that was for sure. That was something so out of character for her that he hadn't bought her statement that this was just for fun, not for a moment. But what would drive his usually so placid Ace to engage in such an aggressive way of relieving stress? Or to want to accompany him to the _gym_ in the first place? After all, the gym was to a Gilmore girl what a church was to a demon or the IRS office was to a tax evader.

Okay, his parents had barged in on them so that could possibly explain her sudden need to do an excursion into the forbidden land. He wouldn't want to be stuck with them in the same house either. It didn't explain the punching bag though. Or did it?

Heaven knew things had never been good between Rory and his parents. Although that was totally his parents' fault, Rory seemed to have gotten over the shock of their not accepting her. She had seen them for the assholes they were and she was no longer intimidated by them as she had been in the beginning. He was glad about this. The thicker her skin had gotten, the better. As he had no intention of letting her get away ever again, she would have to put up with his family for a lot longer and the thought that she would get hurt because of him...

He gripped the wheel a bit tighter. He loved Rory. It had taken him a long time to figure that out, only his almost losing her clued him in. Now that he had come to terms with this so simple but oh so colossal fact, certain aspects of his life had changed completely. He was still in awe with the ease of how his life was altered. Making his Ace happy and protecting her at all cost was on the top of those things that had changed. So to hurt her because of him was a disturbing thought, if not unbearable. He had asked himself from time to time if her being with him was causing her more harm than happiness.

So far she had always been able to convince him that what they have was worth it all but he dreaded the day when it could just get too much for her and she'd come to the conclusion that for her sake, she'd have to leave him. And he wouldn't blame her for that, even though it would destroy him. Oh, not driving him into suicide or something like that, but worse: he would stop caring and follow the path his family had set for him long before his conception and become exactly like his father and grandfather − a cold-hearted, ruthless asshole of a person.

He was slowly becoming that person before Rory had come into his life. Her very being challenged him to be more than that, be better than that. It made life harder and scarier, but God, he wouldn't want to miss one single second of it, not even that horrible time of their break-up. For even if it had hurt like a bitch, he had still felt more alive then than even in the wildest stunt he had done in his desperate attempt to evade his looming fate.

To be fair though, the relationship between his parents and his Ace had slightly improved for the better lately. And with this morning's revelation of Rory's 'royal' bloodline, Shira sure had made a complete turn-around, suddenly awfully keen on marrying him into such a prestigious family. It amused him, after all, they had known the Gilmores and their heritage all their lives but then again, this far away from the 'old country', people tended to forget about such things unless their noses were shoved right into it, like Rory had done so this morning. He understood her motives for doing it and he was glad that it made things easier, at least, between Shira and Rory but it also made him a little apprehensive. The least they would need was both their families' determination on marrying them.

He may be heading there already but, if this was to happen, then he wanted it to be on their terms. He wanted it to be his decision alone, of course with Rory, not some convenient arrangement between the elder Gilmores and his parents. And with those folks, once the obstacles were out of the way, it was very much likely that one day they would present them the pre-nup ready to be signed and inform them, incidentally, that the wedding date for them was then and there. He had seen it happen to other guys more or less his age and knew of countless arranged marriages in his parents' generation. And he had the feeling that should it ever come to that, he'd lose his Ace for good.

Unacceptable.

"Logan?"

Glad for the interruption, he glanced over at her. "Hmm?"

"Why didn't you say you had to go to London this weekend? You didn't have to bail out of it like this, you know? We could have just come here next weekend," she asked with a frown, turning her head to stare at him. "And why do you have to go to London so often lately? Is there a problem at your British office?"

Shit.

He should have known she had caught up on that and waited for a good time to ask him about it, like when he was driving and having no way of escape. Giving her another glance, he knew it was time to tell her all about London. Damn his father. He had wanted some more time to get things sorted out, find a way out of his impending move to London or at least work out a deal with Mitchum that wouldn't make it quite as bad as it promised to be at the moment. He took a turn on the next side road which was the way to a bluff. He knew this spot which he had already shown to Rory on one of their previous visits to the Vineyard and the view from there was breathtaking.

Not that they would be able to enjoy the view, even for a moment. Turning off the engine, he faced her, a bit wary of what her reaction would be to the bad news he had to break to her. "It's not running as good as it should be… one of the reasons why Dad wants me to head the office in London for the time being, after graduation."

It took her all about two seconds before understanding dawned on her, making her eyes darken with shock and something he'd rather not name. "Oh."

He sighed, as frustrated as her if not more. "It's not set in stone yet. I'm still negotiating with him, trying to get out of it..."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's going to work well with Mitchum," she interrupted him. There was despise and venom in her voice, surprising him. "Boy, he really doesn't want you with me, huh, if he's sending you across an ocean to get you away from me."

Frowning, he touched her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "Hey. He's an asshole, no doubt about that, but this isn't because of you, okay?" He didn't want her to think that, knowing how much such a thought would hurt her. Though, right now, it looked like it was rather infuriating her. Still, sooner or later the anger would pass, only leaving dejection and distress behind. "I admit that sending me so far away from you is probably an added bonus, but he's not sending me there because of you. Mostly, it is to get me away from my usual distractions like Finn and Colin, the LDB, my whole way of life. He thinks sending me off to London will force me to concentrate on work." She still didn't look convinced. "Besides, Dad always wanted to send me away for my first assignment. London was on the list already long before I met you… and has been becoming more and more Dad's choice for me."

"Then why didn't you mention anything before?" she challenged him, doubt and anger still clouding her eyes.

He shook his head, making a face. "Ace, come on, you know me. I conveniently forgot about it, pushing it into the darkest corner of my brain, refusing to think about the time my freedom will be over. I honestly didn't think about it until three months ago when Dad told me that I was expected in London right after graduation."

"Three months ago?" she repeated, unbelieving, and he cringed, knowing she wouldn't like that. But when her eyes narrowed, she didn't ask him about keeping this secret for so long like he had expected her to, oh no. Instead, she made an instant connection to something else entirely. "That was the night when you came back early from Omaha… when Jess and I were going to have dinner?" Her eyes froze over. "When we had that fight and broke up."

"Yeah." He saw no point in denying it.

Her gaze distant, she nodded slightly. "I knew something was wrong with you that evening. But I was so caught up in my own mess and you were such an asshole to Jess… I just didn't care," she murmured, more to herself than to him.

He answered nonetheless. "It's not important. You had every right to be mad at me that night. I was a jerk, no matter the reason. Yes, the trip was bad enough in itself and yes, Dad telling me about his plans for me was just too much. I came to you because I needed to vent, to lick my wounds and then seeing you with that guy... I snapped. Not because I was jealous, I knew you had nothing going on with him, well, nothing but a whole lot of history… but he was there, in my way… my plans for the night, an ex-boyfriend looking at my girlfriend like you were still on his dessert cart and worst of all, he kept looking at me with such disapproval and disrespect that hit me a bit too close, reminding me of my father but also of how I feel sometimes when I look in the mirror. I couldn't take it so I lashed out… first at him, then at you. For what it's worth, after all this time… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him get at me, I shouldn't have taken it out on you and mostly, I should just have told you I needed you, alone, in the first place or let you go out with him while I waited for you at home."

She took his hand, squeezing it. "Thank you for telling me. It's good to know just why it went the way it went. But no need to be sorry. Yes, you were a jerk back then but, frankly speaking, I was also in a bad mood that night… you could have been a perfect gentleman and I still would have found a reason to start a fight with you, I think. I couldn't stand my life then anymore… the person I've become. And since it was all so close to the life you lead, it was easy to make you the scapegoat. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame you, I never did and never will but when the shit hit the fan, you sure got some of the fallout."

"Wow, Ace, thank you for that imagery," Logan chuckled and relaxed somewhat. They never had really talked about that fight, only mostly about what had happened later. He guessed it was good that they now cleared that one as well; but unfortunately, it didn't solve their actual problem. "About London..."

"It's okay," she interrupted him, giving his hand another squeeze. "Well no, it's not okay, I obviously don't want you an ocean away but you said nothing is definite yet?" He nodded. "Then let's not worry about it right now. We'll deal with it when there is something to worry about. For now, can't we just try to enjoy this weekend?"

He couldn't help but frown a little. The little worry nut also known as his Ace expressing her want to wait and not fret over London right now? Over his having to move to London? This just wasn't like her. But once again, he went along with it. Besides, what else could they do about London right now anyway? His father sure wasn't in the mood to listen to Logan trying to wiggle out of the planned assignment nor did he want to get into an argument with his father with Rory in the next room. He would not want her to possibly overhear anything she really didn't need to. Speaking of which... "With my parents sleeping in the next room?"

"Yeah, you've got a point there. Nothing we can do about that though, is there?" Crunching up her nose, she let out such a deep sigh that warmed his heart. She had been taking this unwelcome presence of his parents so well so far that he had to admit that he felt a tiny flutter of worry there, deep in his gut.

"We could still leave… get a hotel room over by the shore, go out to dinner, take a short stroll under the stars, go back and make each other see stars," he suggested, hoping she'd say yes finally. He really didn't want to spend the Valentine's weekend with his fucked-up parents.

But very much to his disappointment, she shook her head once, determined. "No."

"Why not?" he had to ask, truly curious. It was Valentine's weekend for heaven's sake! Why wouldn't she be as desperate to be alone as he was?

Her shoulders moved back a little, her back straightened. "Because leaving now would feel like running… like us coming here for a couple of days to be alone is wrong… like I'm not good enough to be staying in your family's vacation home with them there. We love each other… we were here first and therefore we have a right to stay here. If your parents don't have the sense to see that they are intruding, then fine with me. You and I can still make this a beautiful weekend, with or without them being around. But I'm done running from Mitchum and Shira Huntzberger."

Okay. That was it then. If Rory felt this way, if she needed this to feel better, he had no problems with staying. He thought differently but he had been with Rory long enough to know when arguing was pointless and this was definitely one of those times. "I guess we can be quiet."

For a moment she stared at him as if he had lost his marbles, and then a sly smile slowly lifted the corner of her mouth. "Can we?"

"I'll keep us quiet," he confirmed confidently. True, since moving in together, not having to be considerate of a roommate or a possibly hovering elder Gilmore, they had become quite vocal in their lovemaking. But they certainly could fall back to being quiet when they had to.

"You so sure about that?" she asked and he had to say, he definitely liked the wicked gleam of her eyes at that question. Very much. "Are you challenging me? You will lose."

Her smile widened. "We'll see about that. In the meantime, we don't have to be quiet here. And wouldn't it be a shame to not do anything here and let such a romantic place with this breathtaking view go to waste? On a Valentine weekend?"

"Definitely," he agreed wholeheartedly, his smile starting to match hers. "Though we won't see much of the view from the backseat."

"Who said anything about the backseat?" Rory asked innocently, undoing her belt and climbing onto his lap, claiming his lips with a hot, fiery kiss that ended with a husky whisper in his ear. "All you need to do is push the seat back."

Needless to say that he pushed the seat back in record time.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: __Only one more to go! I hope you enjoyed this one. It was fun, especially the first part in the gym. Thank you for all the great reviews so far!  
R.S. Lynn - I really do hope this one didn't categorize as fluffy to you. For me it's not but I think the definition of fluffy is for everyone a bit different. If it is for you, I am terribly sorry for that - and promise to make it up to you with the last one. I hope.)_


	4. Cold Bargain

**4. Cold Bargain**

The second Logan grew aware that he was alone in bed, he woke up enough to lift his head in order to look for his Ace's whereabouts, assuming she had gone to the bathroom. He had become so accustomed to sharing his bed with her that her absence in their bed actually woke him up regularly. Whenever she would get up while he was still sleeping, her time away from bed would disturb him enough to wake him, and then, he would look for her. That had become his natural reaction for a while now, ever since she had moved in with him. He had been so used to her by his side in bed that he could not sleep restfully whenever he was away from _home_. He would never admit this out loud to anyone except his Ace − though not even to her for the time being − but deep down he enjoyed this development. More than anything else it was this that made him feel like he belonged to her, that they had made a real home together. So unlike the Huntzberger home he knew. He wasn't bitter about his more or less loveless childhood, had never missed having a warm, welcoming home to grow up in, but now that he learned what it felt like, how right it felt, he sucked it up greedily like a desert shuddering under the pleasure of a rare rain shower.

It would seem that he needed her even in the most basic human function as sleeping. Was he pathetic in this sense? Of course not! So what if he had become so used to having his Ace with him? There was nothing wrong with that. Hell, he loved her and was very certain that she was _it_ for him. He had realized that this was exactly how it was supposed to actually feel like. He for sure didn't regret it, no matter how scary such a realization was.

The door to the bathroom was open and only darkness came from within. No sign of Rory. Puzzled, he turned his head towards the window but her silhouette didn't obstruct the view out to the ocean either.

Now wide awake, he sat up, taking a good look around. No Ace. Very strange. He had been certain she had fallen asleep before him after an exhausting day spent all over the Vineyard. After having gone back to the house to freshen up and change, he then took her to some of his favorite places they had not been to in their previous visits here; and, just like earlier when they were at the bluff, they _enjoyed_ the view at those places also. They had a romantic dinner at a small restaurant owned by two old, sweet ladies he had known for years now. Once they got home, they had a quick drink with his parents. Then in their room, after saying goodnight to his parents, he had finally proved to her that he could indeed keep them quiet, though she had put up one hell of a challenge. So they really had been both tired when they finally allowed themselves to rest at last. About three hours later, here he was, alone in their bed.

Well, not for much longer, he hoped. If Rory was brooding somewhere over what had been bothering her this whole time, it was time they had a talk about it. If she had gone to get some food, okay, he could have a midnight snack, especially if she was the dessert. And if she had gotten up to study, he'd remind her of life's priorities. At least on a Valentine weekend.

He put on his boxers and a T-shirt; no way would he risk running into his parents naked! He left the room in order to search for his missing girlfriend. Muffled voices he could hear from the living room quickly clued him in and he moseyed towards them.

Still out of sight, he heard Rory's enraged but subdued voice, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The statement stopped him cold and made him frown.

"This is two nights in a row that you made a pass at me. Last night you may have been drunk but you're definitely not drunk now! So what on Earth are you thinking trying to kiss me?"

Logan's breath hitched and he felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over him. And then, he felt a rage building inside him that he could barely control. Well, he didn't really want to control it, especially, hearing Rory's outraged indignation and the fact that some bastard had tried to force himself on her but something told him to wait and listen, at least for a little more, instinctively knowing that this way he may learn some very important clues to Rory's strange behavior this day. But it was hard to remain in the shadows of the hallway and not rush out there and barge in on the asshole.

As there was currently only one asshole in the house, it wasn't much of a shock to recognize the voice who answered. "More interesting is that yet again, here you are, wearing nothing more than a shirt, knowing fully that you might run into me again. Somehow, I doubt the sincerity of your righteous anger." There was dead silence for a long moment, interrupted by a malicious laughter. "I am right, am I not? Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Fi... figure something out?" Rory sputtered, her voice carrying the shock of hearing such words which were so offensive to her.

"Of course. We will all benefit from this. You'll marry Logan, keep him in line. In return, you'll get whatever job your heart desires within the Huntzberger group. And you and me, we can have some private time whenever you feel like," Mitchum proposed confidently.

Without any emotions, Logan took that plan of his father in. He had to admit, the plan wasn't bad. Tempt Rory with her dream job, control him through Rory and control Rory by making her his own mistress, dependent on him. Yes, not a bad plan at all. A number of women would probably fall for this plan, accept the plan. The problem with those women though was their lack of power over him. He had to be in love with the woman for her to have any influence on him and none of the girls who had been paraded in front of him had ever the chance to move his heart. Now that he loved one though, his parents had tried to separate them. When that had not happened, his father had reevaluated his plans and found another way to ensure his continued control over him.

He would have succeeded if only he had not neglected to consider a very vital aspect in that cold, calculated little plan of his: Rory's loyalty and integrity. And her love for him.

"The only reason why I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear you make this… this scandalous not to mention appalling proposition to me is because… as foreign as this concept must be for you… I love Logan and I care for his happiness. So, I don't want him to know the outrageous scheming his own father is capable of… even if he has a very low opinion of you. How can you?" she asked and her absolute disbelief of such a machination by Mitchum was palpable. Logan smiled upon overhearing what Rory said to his father despite the fury still building inside of him. That and her show of love and protectiveness towards him. It was absolutely unnecessary, of course, as this didn't shock or even surprise Logan very much. Rather, it was a relief to finally know what his father was planning. Still, it was nice to see how very much he could trust his Ace with his heart, never having to worry that she'd betray him to be on his dad's good side. "You're his father! You're supposed to love and support him not control him until he slowly suffocates. And, certainly you should not get his girlfriend into your bed with your wife and son sleeping just down the hall!"

"Now, now, no need to be dramatic," his father said, his displeasure about Rory's reaction making Logan's smile turn cold.

"Quite the contrary! There is every need in the world to be dramatic about this. Now take your hands off me or I swear to God, first thing I'll do is call the police and press charges against you for harassment and attempted rape, then I'll call all the major newspapers to tell them about the true character of the oh so great Mitchum Huntzberger and, first thing Monday, I'll call my grandparents' lawyer to sue you for firing me because I wouldn't sleep with you," Rory threatened and Logan had no doubt that she meant every word of it. Of course Mitchum would ruin her and her reputation completely before it came to that but still, it was strangely exhilarating to hear someone, let alone his Ace, face off with his intimidating and incredibly powerful father like this.

"Oh yeah? What happened to wanting to protect Logan's feelings so much?" his father countered, surely this would put an end to this discussion.

"I changed my mind. Probably his opinion of you can't get any worse and I'm beginning to understand why. Getting you off his back will do him more good than trying to spare his feelings," Rory answered without hesitation, the low growl in her voice a sure proof of just how mad she was.

"For that he'll first have to believe you..."

"I doubt that that's hard to achieve."

"... and of course, he then has to be willing to renounce his money and privileges, should he choose to side with you," his father continued, not impressed with her interruption. "You may think very highly of my son but if you think you're more important than his precious extravagant lifestyle he is clinging to so desperately, you're more naive than I thought you were."

At that, Logan straightened, bringing up his chin.

"And I think you don't know your son at all," Rory replied matter-of-factly. "But I have a suggestion… you insist on this and I will not hesitate to go through with everything I just promised you. Or, if you care about your one and only son at all, you can ask me here and now to disregard whatever you just said and I will never breathe a word of this to anyone… If you promise that you will never try something like this ever again and only if you get off his back and let Logan make his own decisions. And you will absolutely not force him to go to London or anywhere else he doesn't want to go to."

He had been about to step forward but this offered deal from his Ace stopped him dead in his tracks. Not so much the gist of it, rather that she came up with this deal at all. For once, he and his father seemed to think the same thing. "What?"

"Let go of Logan. Let him make his own choices. Or I'll cause you a scandal that will bring you down," she repeated calmly.

Too calmly. His Ace was great at many things but she wasn't exactly quick at deciding anything. Her coming up with this deal was - unlikely. What was it his father had first insinuated? That she had planned on an apparently second confrontation with him. Maybe, he hadn't been so wrong about that after all. Though out of very different reasons.

But no, that couldn't be it. His Ace wasn't the type to provoke another confrontation in order to maneuver his father into a position where he had to accept her terms. Was she?

"Careful, honey. You do not want me as your enemy," Mitchum warned in a low voice Logan knew well enough. Sadly, he had to agree with him. No one wanted Mitchum Huntzberger as his enemy. He had no scruples... he would and could destroy anyone and anybody.

"And you forgot who I am," Rory countered though, seemingly unimpressed. "I'm not some poor, bimbo who's a complete nobody. I am the only grandchild of Richard Gilmore and the oldest daughter of the Hayden heir. I am a DAR girl. When I talk, people are going to listen to me and I'm fairly certain that three out of four will believe me rather than you, considering your reputation. It's not exactly a secret that you sleep around, some of your _acquaintances_ being quite young, if one is to believe the rumors. Don't forget that I was the one who tamed your son. No, Mr. Huntzberger, you do not want me to go public with your outrageous behavior, not if you value the life you have because I assure you, that will change. Friends won't associate with you anymore, you and your family will be shunned, and powerful men will distance themselves from you. My grandparents have a great influence in this very exclusive circle. And a lot of people need my father on their good side. It's rather you who needs to be careful. So what will it be?"

He was flabbergasted and touched deeply by what Rory tried to do here for him. Not to mention that he was turned on as hell by this cold bargaining by his girlfriend. It was incredible how she had come up with all this. It was not a bad plan at all. Actually, it was quite ingenious. Still, he couldn't let her go through with this so, finally, he stepped out into plain view. With narrowed eyes he took in his father's hand gripping Rory's left wrist on the kitchen island. "Let Rory go," he ordered; he was surprised at how calm he felt, despite the urge for bloody murder pulsing through his veins at the sight of his girlfriend being manhandled by his fucking father.

Two heads swiveled around, both staring at him: Rory with shock but also relief, his father with his usual indifference and, if Logan wasn't completely wrong, there was a hint of satisfaction. Bastard. "Now," he ordered, not moving an inch, staring down his father.

Slowly Mitchum let go, and then straightened up. The second she was free, Rory rushed over to him. "Logan..."

He took his eyes off his father long enough to smile at her. "It's okay, Ace. Go back to our room, pack our things. We're leaving. I'll be with you in a moment," he soothed her, kissing her temple.

Her lips parted but, instead of spilling out the questions he could practically see burning on her tongue, she looked from him to his father and back to him. She closed her mouth, nodded and left, but not without briefly slipping her hand into his and squeezing it.

He waited until he heard the door close softly before he addressed his father again. "I'm leaving, Dad."

Strange how easy it suddenly was to say this, after all these years of yearning to do exactly this, but never having the balls to do so. In a way, he should perhaps be thankful for his father being such an asshole. Otherwise, he doubted that he would have found the courage to make this decision.

"I've heard. You can spare these unnecessary dramatics though. We both know that there won't be a way off this island before well into morning," Mitchum replied, walking over to the cabinet to pour himself some whiskey.

Logan shook his head, not surprised at all that his father had misunderstood him. "I'm leaving the group, Dad," he clarified. "I will not go to London, I will not head any office. I will not work for you, ever."

"Don't be ridiculous. You are my son and heir… so, yes, you are working for the group. You will do as I tell you." He regarded him with a dismissive look. "Now, go have your little tantrum or whatever you feel like. But in the end, you can't afford to quit as you and I know very well."

"What I can't afford is you dictating my life," Logan countered, still very calm. "Tonight, listening to you trying to corrupt my girlfriend, I finally understood that no matter what I do or achieve, once I start working for you, you will always try to control me, either by bribing or blackmailing me. You will never let me live my own life, make my own choices… not as long as you live. I can't have that, Dad. I won't have it. So I am leaving because it is really the only choice if I want to be my own person."

That Mitchum slammed down his glass was the only indication that he was losing his cool. Then again, with Mitchum Huntzberger, that was already quite an achievement. "And do what? You partied your whole life away, learning nothing. You know nothing else. Everything was given to you on a golden platter. Don't think you'll get one more penny from me if you walk out on us now."

"But, Dad, you forget one thing… I'm a Huntzberger," Logan reminded him gently and yes, a tad bit gleeful. "I can do whatever I set my mind on. And we're good at thriving in whatever we decide to do. I will find something to do and be good enough at it to succeed. And support myself."

"Not like you're used to."

"Maybe not. But if that is the price for my freedom then I'll gladly pay it. Besides, you might be surprised with what little I can be content with," he added, thinking about his Ace. No doubt she could teach him a thing or two about living on a budget. As long as she was at his side, there was nothing he couldn't do, nothing else he needed. He turned his back on him, having said all he needed to say. Almost. Stopping, he turned and looked at his father with a cold, unwavering face. "Oh, and just to be clear… You stay away from Rory. If you ever harass her again, if you lay another finger on her or if I hear even a word about you interfering with her career, Rory will go through with every step she threatened. And I will talk about some family secrets to the right ears."

He didn't bother to wait for his father's reaction to his threat. He knew him enough to recognize what he said was no empty threat. His father had wanted him to learn the ropes and he had done that, discovering some very interesting facts that could get his father into serious trouble, if and when even one of the Huntzberger secrets was ever disclosed. Plus, he had known about his family's numbered accounts with offshore banks since like forever. No, his father wasn't stupid enough to risk him talking.

Getting into their room, he saw that Rory must have been a true whirlwind, their two bags already sitting by her feet. She looked up, glancing at him with wide, worried eyes. He gave her another reassuring smile and walked over to the bed where she had placed some change of clothes for him. Two minutes later, he took the bags and gestured for her to go ahead. "Let's go."

* * *

It took Rory nearly ten minutes into their drive before she broke the silence at last. She held out longer than Logan had anticipated. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to hear anything about your father's behavior."

He glanced at her. "That's incredibly sweet of you but you should have told me. If you didn't want to wake me up last night, at least, you should have said something first thing this morning. This is one of those things I absolutely need to know about."

She sighed deeply. "I didn't want to cause a greater rift between Mitchum and you than what already is."

This time he kept his eyes on the road. "First of all, you didn't cause anything. Second, that rift can hardly get any wider. And third, do you really think this has been the first time he went after my girl?" She gasped and he smiled, somewhat ruefully. "Ace, the main reason why I never took a girl home was because the first time I did that, the girl was in bed with my father after not even three days. Since then I never bothered again. And I was careful to never take a girl whom I particularly like to a party my parents attended as well. Until you." She had changed everything, very much to his annoyance in the beginning. Now, he wouldn't want it any other way. "So, you see… you really didn't have to worry about my feelings."

She was quiet for a full minute. Finally, she shook her head. "I can't help it. I love you. I don't want you hurt."

His heart swelled at this simple statement but he kept the smile trying to form on his face strictly at bay for the moment. This was too important. "I know. I'd like to protect you from any possible hurt as well. And I appreciate you feeling this way. It does mean a lot to me. But as I told you already last year after the whole thing with your internship with Dad and you and I stealing a boat… this won't work with you keeping big things from me, especially, when it concerns anything that my father or any member of my family did to you. Would you like it if your mother corners me and berates me for you joining the DAR or skipping a class and I tell you nothing about it?"

"No. No, I wouldn't like it," she grumbled. After a few seconds, she pierced him with her eyes. "Did she ever do something like that?"

Now he allowed the smile to form. "It was just a hypothetical question. If it did happen, I would have mentioned it to you." Most likely. Depending on just what was said between him and Lorelai. And the manner it was said. They stopped at a crossing and he looked at her fully, taking her hand, he said very seriously, "For what it's worth… I am very sorry for what my father did. If he..." He didn't know how to finish and just squeezed her hand.

Her thumb caressed reassuringly the back of his hand. "Nothing happened, Logan. He tried to kiss me and leered a bit at me, that's all. Nothing you need to be sorry about or worry about."

"Are you sure? Because… if not, I'll be the first to drag you to the next police station to press charges." He bit his lips. "I never thought he'd try anything with you. Even if he doesn't know you, it is so obvious that you would never agree to such a thing. And then, you are the granddaughter of a family friend... I am truly sorry."

"Don't. I've told you, this is not your fault. And nothing really happened anyway. So, can we please just forget about it now?" she begged and he could see that she really was tired and uncomfortable in continuing this conversation.

"Okay," he sighed, kissing her cheek before straightening in his seat and continuing to drive. This was something he was never bound to forget. But he could wait to vent about it when they were back home and he would tell Colin and Finn about this. They would understand his point-of-view better than her anyway.

"What happens now? Are you really going to leave the Huntzberger group?" she hesitatingly asked after a moment.

No need to even think twice about his answer to that. "Yes."

"And?"

He shrugged, truly not caring about that right now. "Ace, don't worry about this, okay? I'll find something to do after graduation… I just need to figure out what I want and what's out there. Dad will no doubt try to stop me from getting any employment but while he surely has influence and knows half of the world, I'm not without any connections either. And he can't tyrannize everyone. Contrary to his belief, I'll have a pretty good Yale diploma once I'm done with school ..."

"Thanks to me."

"Thanks to you," he agreed with a chuckle. It was true enough. "I have worked hard this past year and I'll be valuable to anybody who gives me the chance, anyone will recognize this. I'll find my way."

She wasn't convinced though, worrying, "But how will you be able to support yourself? If Mitchum cuts you off now..."

"I'm not stupid, Ace. I've been saving for a while now, just in case. I have more than enough put aside to sustain me until I have full access to my trust account next year." Plus there were the numbered accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland. Yep, he should be able to do just fine. "Besides, haven't you always wanted to teach me the wonders of living on a budget? Now's your chance."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll need a lesson in that," she replied dryly, rolling her eyes. "But I guess I have a tip or two for you, if you really need it."

"Aww, I love you, too, Baby," he crooned mockingly. Not an easy task but he pulled it off.

"Miscreant," she gave back generously. "Hey, where are we going? This isn't the way to the ferry or the airport."

"That's because we're heading to the marina," he confirmed. "We'll take the boat."

She frowned. "Boat? What boat? You really think it wise that we steal another boat? I don't want to do another million hours of community service!"

He laughed. "Relax, Ace. We're not stealing one. We'll take mine."

That stopped her. "Oh. What about the Porsche?"

"I'll have it delivered home Monday." If his father would not confiscate it, beforehand. He assumed that was very likely. Oh well, he could live without the Porsche. If he absolutely had to. And it did consume an awful lot of gas. He cringed a little at that thought. It was just wrong to worry about gas with such a dream of a car. "Or we can sit around until morning but that will be a long wait and frankly speaking, right now, I really don't want to be on the same island as my dear father. This way, we get off the island and still can do something nice tomorrow before we have to head back. You okay with that?"

"Oh well, I guess we can do that. After all, you always promised to take me on a boat trip and I guess we better do that before your father reports the boat stolen," she answered after a moment, relaxing into her seat.

He was about to ridicule her last comment when he thought better of it. Maybe she had a point there. "At least, then we can officially claim to be like Bonnie and Clyde."

"We're definitely not cool - and violent - enough for that," Rory said, shaking her head. "We may pull off a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, though, if we work really hard at it."

"Please, I'm too handsome to be Laurel. And you're too sexy to pretend to be Hardy," he protested.

"Lois and Clark then?"

He snorted. "Too boring."

"Xena and Hercules?"

He glanced warily at her. "Neither of us is gay or are you not telling me something?"

She rewarded him with a glare for that comment before she cheered up. "I have it! We're..." she made a long pregnant pause, "... Rory and Logan, the scandalous rogues of Martha's Vineyard, destined to steal boats together until their very last breaths."

"I like the sound of that," he agreed, softly.

* * *

"You did it."

Mitchum looked up from his glass of whiskey at his wife slowly coming toward him, not looking too happy with him. Then again, he had stopped a long time ago to care about what his wife thought about him. He took another sip. "Looks like it."

"I still think this was a mistake, pushing Logan like that. We may have lost him forever with your stupid stunt," Shira said, acting for once as if she actually cared which would be a first since a long time as well.

"It needed to be done. Logan needs to stand on his own and nothing I've tried worked. Now… now he is out there, growing up, learning what is necessary to competently run an empire like our business conglomerate one day. Threatening that girl of his was the only way," he stated with finality, not wanting to get into another discussion about this. He knew his son, he knew how to work him, how to push his buttons.

For once though, Shira didn't shut up like she was supposed to. "How? You've heard him! He has left the family business, turned his back on you and now there's nothing we can do about him and that girl anymore."

"Which we want, remember? She's the only person who ever managed to keep him on track and sharp on his toes. He needs her. We need her." Though, he was beginning to second guess himself on that. The young Ms. Gilmore was a lot more resilient than he had calculated. "Besides, don't worry. You know her history with the Haydens. Honor told us how much she regretted not having both set of grandparents in her life. The moment they're expecting their first child, she'll have him try to mend his relationship with us so her children will be spared the same fate. By that time, hopefully, he has matured enough to be civil and not take every word we say as a personal attack against him."

Shira huffed. "I hope you are right, Mitchum, because otherwise you have lost not only our son but maybe our grandchildren also." Thus said, she grabbed another bottle of bourbon and stomped back into their bedroom.

Calmly, he refilled his glass. There was no need for such dramatics. He knew people. He knew his son.

One way or another, this day and his actions would lead Logan to become the son he needed him to be. Even if it meant that he would need to keep his distance from him for the next few years. He always planned way ahead.

And he always played to win. This time was not going to be an exception.

**The End**

* * *

_**Prompt from R.**_**: I want a story set on Valentines Day, season 6 (at Martha's Vineyard). I want this story to slightly stray from the path meaning that I don't want Luke and Lorelai to be there... and I want Mitchum to be there early. Like, Rory and Logan arrive there to find Mitchum already there. And then I want angst to follow involving Mitchum. It can be anything you want--Mitchum could be cheating on his wife with another woman, the Huntzberger family could be staying at Martha's Vineyard and now Rory has to deal with a family that hates her for a weekend, or Mitchum could do something out of line--anything you want. One thing I don't want is fluff... I hate fluff.**

_(Author's note: Okay, this was it. I sure had fun writing this one and I hope you all like it - especially you, R.. I really tried to avoid any fluff - I hope it was to your satisfaction. Thank you for the prompt! It was really interesting to venture into this possibility. Couldn't have done it without your prompt.  
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews you left me! Glad you enjoyed this story so far - and really hope you did so with its end as well!)_


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